Reproduced below, in their entirety and unedited, are the comments of the 45 students who wrote in comments on their course evaluation forms in Spring 1999. It's clear that students reacted differently to the course content and to my teaching style, and that one and the same aspect of the course may be seen as positive by some and as negative by others. I find the comments more informative than the numeric ratings. However, although I have tried to respond constructivelly to comments, suggestions and criticisms, it would be impossible for a variety of reasons to implement some of the suggested changes, even if I believed they would improve the course. Prospective students may be able to infer from the comments whether this course suits their needs, but they should be aware that almost half of the students who took the course did not write in any comments, so the sample may be unrepresentatve of the reaction of the class as a whole.
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semantics great use of web to facilitate study out of class |
I would not have used words like "truth" and "fact" so much |
I gave some harsh grades, but I'm probably just sore at psychology and its epistemological definitions. Also I felt that the lecturing manner was so organized that it made the lecture too pedantic. |
The lectures, videos, audio clips The Pinker reading |
Explain the first two topics more thoroughly |
No |
Topics, material covered, good experiments |
Not as much reading |
No |
The graphs |
More discussion |
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The lectures were well-organized and clearly presented, using power point slide shows The content of the course was fascinating Many of the readings (Pinker, Miller) were very interesting and engrossing |
Maybe a research or opinion paper or 2 |
No. |
The instructer was very interesting and came extremely well prepared. Thus the lectures were quite interesting. |
Some of the readings were long and repetitive. Having only two tests made them very difficult. A 3 test system would help. |
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The lectures were very organized and informative. Professor Krauss did an excellent job teaching the course. |
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Great material Very engrossing lecturing |
I wish the research project were mandatory and was worth significantly more--it's a great learning experience |
Thought the TAs were very nice and helpful--they were a little unorganized |
The presentation of the material using multimedia tools |
A clearer idea of the nature of the midterm (& final)--concepts were more important than details. |
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Teaching techniques--use of computers |
More discussion of readings |
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Materials and content were very organized |
Maybe less content and more time on each topic |
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Lectures and audio-visual aids |
TAs would be more organized Optional project more comprehensible for a student with little background in psychology |
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he was very organized in the presentation of material and the web page was very clear and helpful |
I can't think of anything Thought it was one of the best courses I've taken |
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The presentation of the material with the help of the computer make the material very clear |
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The Power Point presentation (w/ sound effects) were good, although learning how to use it would be recommended |
(1) Ease up on the reading. Some of us take other classes. (2) More tests--too much material on our two exams (3) Try to make this at least vaguely interesting. |
This is one of the most painful classes I have ever taken. May God have mercy on your soul. |
It's over, thank God |
Enough with the academic vocabulary while lecturing, start speaking English. |
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I think the teacher, Dr. Krauss, was the best aspect of the course. He made the topics interesting by involving us in what he taught--he put tests on the board that demonstrated what he was teaching. The lectures were always well organized and easy to follow. |
I would focus more on the topics were covered at the end of the semester, such as facial expressions and gestures. |
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very interesting material structured teaching style good on-line material |
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more tests, thus less pressure on each exam |
The lectures were much more interesting than the reading. The video notes were very helpful |
I would recommend less reading in the first half of the semester because there was too much info that was not gone over in class and it was hard to relate concepts from lectures to readings at times |
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The power point The studies that seemed more relevant to life and interaction |
less experiment focused more idea focused less review of previous class, it seemed like a wasteof time |
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lectures & readings |
have more graded assignments to make material more manageable |
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the ;lack of paper writing |
a bit more class particip instead of slide & lectures |
personal anecdotes, while interesting, were at times too time consuming |
Best aspects: computerized overhead notes. The experiments that we could see & not just hear about. |
We should be able to get the notes for the course before the class, so that unnecessary writing of notes found on the web can be avoided. In one of my psych classes we had the notes before hand & it made studying/understanding the course easier. |
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video clips shown on overhead, speaker samples (audio-visual components) the TAs |
refer more to readings in class lectures go more into history (development of language) & maybe relate material to political (theoretical) aspects of language. Read Sassure & other linguists |
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the material, the readings, the lectures, the online website |
no, not really |
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the material, at times, was interesting always clearly presented |
give more conclusions, opinions vary lecture style |
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I thought the Steve Pinker readings were absolutely fascinating (As were most ofthe journal articles read during the 2nd 1/2 of the semester) |
a better computer |
Great class! |
Scientifically theoretical yet very practical |
Put notes on web before material is covered in class |
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organization of materials on computer, professor's sense of humor |
more opportunities for grades/research |
no |
It was extremely well organized & thought out. The teacher's preparation for the course was amazing. There was good humor. |
Easier tests. |
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several of the topics were interesting |
more animated lecture style |
none |
There were no best aspects of the course. Maybe the computer presentation & sound effects. |
Reduce the amount of reading. It's too much to do it all with a full course load. Make cl;ass more interesting & lively |
I really did not enjoy this course. I lost all interest inb the subject matter because of it. |
The TAs were always available & the info was readily available on internet |
less material, more detail |
He clearly puts a lot of effort into the class--and he is obviously quite knowledgeable about the material |
lecture very informative optional project very interesting |
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tests did not seem to match lecturess & reading directly |
The presentation of material in class was very good |
There was entirely too much material presented in this class. It almost impossible to grasp all the differentc oncepts, experiment, ect. in one semester. |
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The course material could be condensed a little more & more info. could be added to the syllabus. |
A friendlier, more approachable professor would also help. |
[illegible] theory |
loosen up. |
loosen up! |
-the material was interesting -the instructor's use of the computer to project the class notes on the screen |
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videos, recordings |
more videos/tests of expts in class |
keep up the jokes |
Computer accessible lectures |
Slow down |
Make Lectures available in Web in form they are presented in class |
-Very interesting materials -very dynamic lecturing, computer content and demos helpful and interesting -Prof. Kraus very good lecturer, interesting, good pacing, mixture of facts, examples, etc. |
-reading very uneven--much heavier in 1st half of course -exams didn't test all of material--I didn't feel like a lot of my studying helped performance on midterm although I learned a lot doing the studying. |
I really enjoyed it--thank you! |
The material is very interesting. The reading is good. The computer demonstrations in class are interesting and often entertaining |
more multiple choice questions on the final/midterm. I don't feel I was fully anble to present what I had learned on the test |
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visual enhancements audio clips |
clearer notes more time to write |
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humor |
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Interesting and clear presentations of material. Pinker's book was wonderful...I recommend it to friends all the time |
None |
Thank you! |